Myself When Young: The Shaping of a Writer

by Daphne du Maurier

Book Overview

Both her novels and her non-fiction reveal Daphne du Maurier's overwhelming desire to explore her family's history. In Myself When Young, based on diaries that she kept from 1920 - 32, the most famous du Maurier probes her own past, beginning with her earliest memories and encompassing the publication of her first book and her subsequent marriage. Here, the writer is open and sometimes painfully honest about the difficult relationship with her father;...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380404850
• ISBN13: 9780380404858
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The First 25 Years -The Journey of a Writer

Du Maurier is the most underrated writer of the 20th century. I am not the only one to write this bold statement. She is certainly not a Joyce or a Sartre, two experimental writer's who have become legends of Modernism... "May the common reader be damned!" was certainly the catch cry for Modernism in prose; I cannot exactly name who made this claim, but when reading Joyce's "Finnigan's Wake", this text is certainly out of most readers' reach. In Modernism, the reader is invited to take an Active role, a "writerly" mode as oppossed to a "Readerly" mode, that is to say, a passive role, in the task of reading.(Barthes) Chronology was out and Chaos, in some cases, moved centre stage. After WW1, art changed forever - cubism, surrealism, expressionism. Philosophy's like Existentialism and Marxism moved into the intellectual spotlight - Realism was out, named an illusion, a trick, and with the help of psychoanalysis, the imagination, the "unconscious" according to some, was the core of the imagination, and needed to be expressed. Although Du Maurier was only a child during WW1 and a young adult during WW2, these sweeping movements in "art" did not appear to affect her work in anyway. She wrote what she knew and did it extremely well. In this text, written when the author was in her late sixties, constantly refering back to her journals at the time, in her simple and descriptive prose, somehow magically moves the reader to the period; an upper middle class English childhood; an imagination run wild amidst a very regulative life. We see her grow as a writer, torn between her beloved England and her impressionable years in Paris. Similar to many writers' I know, writing is a task, writing is work and it requires discipline to sit in front of a blank page everyday and worry, maybe only for a moment, that there is nothing more to say; that you just do not have the ability anymore. Then, you calmly sit down, take a deep breath, and you move into the Zone and simply begin as if on automatic, and before you realize it, five hours have passed. Daphne had the same fears - everyday! Du Maurier had that uncanny ability to write "literature" and thoroughly entertain at the same time. Something that few writers, during this period, could accomplish.

Fascinating insight into an unusual young woman

Based upon a collection of old diaries, Daphne du Maurier looks back in time to provide readers with a picture of who she was as a child and how she developed into both a young woman and successful author. A compelling read that takes one to another time, it's fascinating to realise that far from being a precocious adolescent, she was a highly intelligent but emotionally immature child living much of her life in her own dream world almost up until her marriage. Definitely a worthwhile read for those who want to learn more about this elusive author.

Must Read for Any Young Woman That Wants to Write

I sleep with a copy of Rebecca next to my bed - as a young writer I read it every now and then to remind myself of what I'm aiming for; I consider it a perfectly crafted novel, with beautiful writing, a compelling plot, and a character that I strongly identify with. DuMaurier's autobiography does not touch the time when she was writing Rebecca, but rather her life in London, Paris and in Cornwall, England from ages 3 to 25. If I could choose a life, her's would be the one I'd want. This is a must-read for anyone who feels that they have a gift of the written language (sometimes a burden, mostly a drive to do something REALLY BIG).